A life worthwhile

There are a lot of moments when my job stinks.

There's the grading, the long hours, the lack of windows, the bosses, the students, the pay, the whatever. Teaching is a job that doesn't run seven to three, so there are a lot of late nights and long weekends.

The flip side, however, is that I get to teach some pretty amazing young people who make my job absolutely worth doing day in and day out.

Whenever I'm feeling down about my job, whenever I'm at my wit's end thinking that I'm accomplishing absolutely nothing as I see a half dozen students go through the motions of coming to class and failing their fourth consecutive quarter of honors chemistry, I think back to some of the meaningful moments that I've shared with my students that have kept me going...

...Robert Samaniego (2011 grad) stopping by school last week to thank me for writing a recommendation that helped him get a scholarship for this, his freshman year...

...Kelly Tsai bringing in a birthday cake for me while she and her fellow students took a practice AP test on a Saturday morning...

...Lizzie Kowal complimenting me for always getting their tests back quickly, far more quickly than her other teachers...

...my rec basketball team giving me a card and a gift card as thanks for 'coaching' them this year...each girl having written a note about how much fun they had this year and asking me to come back next year...

...Kate Hagen writing me the most wonderful thank you letter upon her graduation telling me that she knew she'd found home when she heard Meryn Cadel's 'The Sweater' on her first visit to my classroom...

...CJ (I don't even remember CJ's last name, I'm embarrassed to say) hugging the heck out of me just before he stepped on stage to receive his hard-earned diploma...

...Grace, Kate, Kevin, Joey, Matt, Nick, and the rest of the gang occasionally joining me and Calen at The Pub for trivia Mondays...

...Dan Finger telling The Girl that I really did a lot of great stuff for Princeton when she introduced herself to him...not that I was a great teacher but that I did a lot of great stuff for Princeton...

...countless students emailing me over the years thanking me for what and how I taught them because their college chemistry prof wasn't doing half as good a job...

...countless more emailing and asking me where that reference sheet was on my website because they remembered it from two years before...

...Ben Young smiling at me every time I see him - at Cornhole 4A Cause, at a Reds game, anywhere...

From time to time, teachers make jokes about how much easier our job would be if it weren't for those pesky kids, if we just had a little more free time to clean our desks or catch up on the grading, if they would just stop asking questions, if their parents would just stop pestering us all the time.

It's not true.

If it weren't for the students, this job would be unthinkably horrible.

They make the job worth doing.

Thanks, folks...I don't say it often enough.

The hall of very good

In no way am I encouraging the intentional lowering of expectations for any of my students here, but I will say that there's something to be said for knowing what you're going to get.

Take Bob Seger, for example. The man hasn't hit any of his albums out of the park (Allmusic.com says he's got a trio of five-star albums, but I've heard 'em, and they're not classics), but he's never going to throw down any dogs either. Rarely do I ever hear anybody say that Bob Seger is their favorite singer, but if his song's on the radio, you'll probably know some of the words and might even catch yourself singing along.

He's solid. There's no spectacularity there, but he's good for a solid 3.5 - 4.5 stars on every album at this point.

Kinda of like Eddie Murray...the man never was going to put the fear of god into an opposing team. No manager ever said "we can't let Murray beat us", but he could easily be penciled in for between 25 and 35 HR in ten of his first dozen seasons in the majors. Check his stats, and you'll see a guy who lead the league in eleven categories in his career (OBP once, games once, HR once, RBI once, BB once, sac flies once, intentional BB three times, salary once) but who was among the leaders year in and year out.

Bill James came up with a two hall of fame tests for baseball players. The black ink test is based on the backs of old baseball cards when league leaders were shown in bold, black ink. Murray scores an eleven on the black ink test, good for 209th place all time (the average HOF member scores a 27). James also added in the grey ink test a few years later, counting the number of times a player was in the top ten in the same categories. There, Murray moves way up the list to 54th place with 181 grey ink appearances (the average HOFer scores a 144 here).

Never the best player but able to be productive until the age of 40 (and play in the majors through 41), Murray was a rock. Middle of the lineup, not what anybody would call a masher but solid.

Never an MVP, but always in the top ten.

To quote Skip Bayless:

Murray wouldn't be in my Hall of Fame. Remember, it's not the Hall of Very Good. It's the Hall of Fame -- of transcendent greatness, of superstardom, of immortality.

Locally, there's Bacall's down in North College Hill. Before The Girl and I moved out the the burbs, Bacall's was our go-to dinner place. If she didn't feel like cooking, we headed up to Bacall's. If nothing else sounded good, we headed up to Bacall's. If we needed a burger, Bacall's.

We never left Bacall's marveling at the food, never paused in the middle of a bite to marvel at the fineness of the cuisine, never asked to speak to the chef.

But we never had a bad meal, either. Never had to worry that anything would be overcooked or would come out cold. Never had to ask for anything specially made. Never had to send anything back.

Solid.

When the world ends - and we all know it'll happen in Cincinnati ten years after it does everywhere else - Bacall's will still be serving up three-star food, and you'll be able to get a good burger or a nice chicken sandwich right up until the end.

And there's a hell of a lot to be said for that...

Sods and odds

These topics don't merit full posts, but I thought I'd throw them in here...

• I'm writing this on Friday night, and I'm pretty sure I'm in love with Stephen Curry. If The Girl were to leave me this weekend, I think I'd send him my proposal. In that vein, there is nothing in all of sports that I love more than a shooting guard with no fear and NBA range.
• I don't understand - at all - why so many small municipalities still exist within Hamilton County. The other large cities with which I'm familiar - Indy and Louisville - have both consolidated the city and county governments to be more fiscally efficient. Looks like Hamilton County might finally be considering consolidation.
• Cincinnati Locavore seems like a blog that I should be reading more frequently, and I will be since I just found out about it today.
• If I haven't mentioned it before, Garden Fresh Gourmet's artichoke garlic salsa is amazing...phernomenal...fresh, bright, brilliant...tasty...and easily my favorite salsa condiment in the world. Sure, it's not made locally, but it's am-frickin-brosia. If you're not eating it, you're a fool.
• Something is wrong with the world, and I can't quite put my finger on it.
• I Can Has Cheezeburger continues to provide the most consistent laughs of any site on the web.

Thoughts on the afterlife

We're not talking heaven or hell here, just what to expect if you end up in limbo...

Your drink would always be either just a little too hot or just a little too cold...close enough to right that you'd go ahead and drink it.

Your clothes almost fit right...not so wrong that you'd change, but almost right so you'd go ahead and wear them anyway, but you'd spend the day fidgeting with the clothes.

Every television show would start five minutes into the episode or twenty minutes in if it's a two-hour movie.

Your fingernails wouldn't grow anymore, but they'd be just a little longer than you'd like them to be.

The music would be tolerable - but not good - cover versions of songs that you like.

Fruit would be permanently on the verge of being ripe but never would quite get there, and if it ever did, it would be just a little overripe.

You'd never be first in line - but there wouldn't be enough people ahead of you that you'd give up and come back later.

The vending machines would always pay up, but it would never be what you wanted.

The weather would change daily but would never give a full day or sun or rain...just a constant threat and intermittent drizzle...not cold but not quite warm either.

You wouldn't have to wash your clothes because they wouldn't get any dirtier but they'd always have just a slight smell to them - as though you'd been wearing them for three straight days.

The humming of the fluorescent lights would be the wrong pitch - and it would change every few days so you couldn't get used to it.

And the chocolate would've bloomed.